$80 a barrel.

[jmood88]

Re: $80 a barrel.

I kinda understand where born bad is coming from... When I lived in NY, I took the train to work. It was just the way to go. Nobody in his right mind would think of driving into the city. But everyday you'd hear about crazy traffic jams in and around the city. I'm not gonna judge those people for driving, I'm sure they had a perfectly legitimate reason for driving into the city at the height of rush hour... But I knew some attorneys who would drive in from Westchester, Connecticut or Long Island instead of taking the Metro North or LIRR like the peasants did, regardless of how long it took or how much gas it wasted. But now I live in an area where I have to drive whether I want to or not. Fortunately, it's a 10 minute commute, so I'm not chugging gas.

I don't know why there are traffic jams in New York, it makes no sense to drive at all.

[Pared]

Re: $80 a barrel.

I don't know why there are traffic jams in New York, it makes no sense to drive at all.

Well, you have to if you're doing commercial deliveries. Then there are just those from LI that have to drive everywhere... b/c life is that good to them.

[born_bad]

Re: $80 a barrel.

That's really not even what's happening. People speculate that the prices will go up which in turn causes the price of gas to go up, if it was simply because of supply and demand then we wouldn't see gas all of a sudden go down and then shoot back up. Anyway, not everyone can take buses, walk, or ride bikes to work.

It is supply and demand as well as free trade. When the prices go back down as you mentioned, it's usually because supply has increased again (refineries were able to pump out more, or something similar). When the prices go up, it's usually because supply has gone down. If it goes way down due to some problem (like Katrina, problems in the Middle East, etc.) the prices jump big time. It's also tied into trade and what people are willing to pay and trade for. It's what people decided the "value" of a barrel of oil is and that will fluctuate.

*warning* preachy "hippie" rant coming about American lifestyle- feel free not to read if you don't want to.


The reason I was generalizing in my earlier posts about SUVs and lifestyle is because it is all tied together. This has become a nation of "consumers." You hear it all the time, right? Consumer spending is up/down, consumer confidence, etc. Look up the word "consume" in the dictionary. It means to use up and waste. That is what being a consumer is. It's what the word means. Yet, this is how we are looked at by our own government and what they feel our purpose is. We've moved way past working for neccessities and some comforts like people did before the industrial revoultion. After that, Americans were told by corporations that the purpose of work is to improve the "quality of life," which basically translates to "buy what I'm selling you even though you don't *need* it." We work for luxury items in this country and we consumer luxury items like never before in history. We buy things because an advertisement convinced us (a lot of time subconsciosly) that what they sell will improve our lives.

Cars are a luxury. Most of the world population doesn't own a car. Yet, in this country a family of 4 believes all 4 people need their own car (if they're of driving age). It's unheard of to *gasp* - share a car. So, my overall point is, I understand people are going to complain when prices go up, but owning a car is a luxury, depsite it feeling like a necessity in this country, so too bad if that luxury just became a little more expensive to use. Especially now that the trend is to show off how big of a vehicle you drive. Americans definitely have a "bigger is better" mentality, so it's no wonder it translates to cars.

Higher gas prices are only the beginning of incovenieces to come from this many people living unsustainable lifestyles. We simply can't continue to consume at this rate forever. Always wanting "more" leaves you never happy with what you have. I'm not suggesting to live like the Amish. Hell, I'm guilty of living this way to (the fact that I'm on a message board discussing videogames as if they're important proves I have my share of luxuires), although I have consciously gone out of my way to avoid needless "consuming" over the last year or so. I share 1 car with my wife (even though it would be more conevenient to each have our own), I avoid advertising as much as possible so I don't feel like I just *have* to have that new iPhone or iPod (which will be outdated in 6 months anyway).

So, I know that's not really to the point of gas prices, but it is all connected and gas prices should be expected to go up if people want to continue to be consumers.

[vinny]

Re: $80 a barrel.

I live 10 miles from a town. I can't bike that distance in the winter when its 10 below. My car is not a luxury.

[ODogg]

Re: $80 a barrel.

The bottom line is, people remember when they paid less than 2 bucks a gallon for gas. Now, in some places, it's over three.

And I remember a time when I used to be able to go to the movies for $3 a ticket. What's your point? If that's the bottom line here then it's a pretty weak one.

[TarHeelMan]

Re: $80 a barrel.

If you had cared to read any further, you would have seen that my point was that you're not gonna make people pay MORE for something than they used to and not have them complain about it... I remember cheaper movie prices too... When I saw movie prices going past 10.00 bucks, what did I do? COMPLAIN... Did it accomplish anything? No, other than make me be more discerning as to what movie I went to. Same with gas... I don't have a long commute, so gas prices don't affect me nearly as much as others... But again, the bottom line is, people aren't gonna spend more money on something and not complain.

[born_bad]

Re: $80 a barrel.

I live 10 miles from a town. I can't bike that distance in the winter when its 10 below. My car is not a luxury.

How ignorant and sad.

Tell people that live like this every day that your car is not a luxury:

[grunt]

Re: $80 a barrel.

Oil companies and wall street betting on the supply that drives price of oil up. Someone is getting very, very, very rich.

[LIGHTNING]

Re: $80 a barrel.

I spent about $75.00 for gasoline for my 4 Stroke Yamaha FX 140 last weekend. Top Speed is 55 MPH and has range of about 150 miles but the waves were a bit rough 4 to 5 feet and could not go very fast. This is in addition to the $60.00 cost for the gasoline for my truck which gets about 16.7 MPG. When the global economy slows down the price could drop significantly just like it did in 1998 with the currency crises in southeast Asia.



If the global economy slows oil prices could drop to below $40/barrel and maybe even below 25. The currency crises in southeast Asia caused about a 10% drop in demand and oil prices went as low as $9/barrell.

[ODogg]

Re: $80 a barrel.

Yea, cause its just that easy to go buy a new car. Being a poor a$$ college student I don't have many options. Trust me, I walk to class everyday which is about a mile 1 way. Work on the other hand, I have no choice being 30 miles away. I have a Sebring so it isn't too bad on gas. But to act like gas prices aren't BS is stupid. They may not effect you as much but do affect others. Especially the little guys. And usually people that can afford Hummers don't have money problems, so they could care less.

I sympathize with your situation but honestly you don't have to buy a new car, you could always go trade in your current car for a used car that is smaller and more fuel efficient. The truth is we have it made in the shade compared to a lot of parts of the world for gas prices. I read a couple years ago that gas was about $6 a gallon in England. We really don't have room to complain. And anyone driving a large vehicle has zero room to complain. You've made your choice, now live with it.

[vinny]

Re: $80 a barrel.

How ignorant and sad.

Tell people that live like this every day that your car is not a luxury:

I happened to be blessed enough to be born into a middle class family in the USA. Does that make me better than them? Absolutely not, however I do live in a society and situation that having a car is a necessity, not a luxury.

[born_bad]

Re: $80 a barrel.

I happened to be blessed enough to be born into a middle class family in the USA. Does that make me better than them? Absolutely not, however I do live in a society and situation that having a car is a necessity, not a luxury.

Sorry, still not true. There are plenty of people living in the US (and many of them living well) that don't have a car, so how can it be a necessity? No matter how you slice it, it is a luxury. Hell, cars didn't even exist until last century, so human beings have lived for thousands of years without them. How did they possibly survive without a "necessity" for so long? You might as well be saying your computer is a necessity.

You're looking at it very subjectively and relatively. It's like the millionare trying to convince you that his yacht is a necessity that he can't do without. Just because it *feels* like a necessity to you, doesn't mean it is.

[ifiok25]

Re: $80 a barrel.

Well I live in Hermitage, Tennessee and gas is only $2.61 a gallon. It was as low as $2.55 3 weeks ago.

[dkgojackets]

Re: $80 a barrel.

Sorry, still not true. There are plenty of people living in the US (and many of them living well) that don't have a car, so how can it be a necessity? No matter how you slice it, it is a luxury. Hell, cars didn't even exist until last century, so human beings have lived for thousands of years without them. How did they possibly survive without a "necessity" for so long?

You're looking at it very subjectively and relatively. It's like the millionare trying to convince you that his yacht is a necessity that he can't do without. Just because it *feels* like a necessity to you, doesn't mean it is.

When you are used to having something for so long it feels like a necessity. The word necessity seems to cover a large umbrella of things nowadays, much more than it actually should.

Fact is, there is a price that gasoline can reach such that someone wouldn't buy it anymore, or at least cut down dramatically on consumption. What that is, I don't know.

[vinny]

Re: $80 a barrel.

Sorry, still not true. There are plenty of people living in the US (and many of them living well) that don't have a car, so how can it be a necessity? No matter how you slice it, it is a luxury. Hell, cars didn't even exist until last century, so human beings have lived for thousands of years without them. How did they possibly survive without a "necessity" for so long?

You're looking at it very subjectively and relatively. It's like the millionare trying to convince you that his yacht is a necessity that he can't do without. Just because it *feels* like a necessity to you, doesn't mean it is.

Ok, not necessary to survive, surely you knew I never meant that. Necessary to maintain my quality of living as your second paragraph illustrates. I guarantee you though that those people living well in the US that do not have a car do not have to go 10 miles a day to work and 40 miles to college. I still do not think it is a luxury, however we probably have different definitions of the word.